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Osama groomed his son to head terror network
http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/240901/detFOR01.aspJason Burke (Guardian News Service)
(Peshawar, September 23)
Mohamed bin Laden, 19, Osama bin Laden's second oldest son, is emerging as a key figure in his father's terrorist enterprise. Though reputed to be shy and contemplative, he is being groomed by his father, who is now 44 and suffers from back and kidney problems, as a successor. Western intelligence agencies say Mohamed is a deeply devout young man utterly committed to the radical programme of his father, and could easily assume his crucial "figurehead" role.
"Bin Laden's role is not as a military technician but as a broad strategist. He is an inspirational leader full of rhetoric and ideas," said one security source. "If bin Laden is killed his son will be the son of the martyred mujahid and can take on the leadership role."
Mohamed, one of 13 children by four wives, will also be able to draw on powerful family connections. Though the wealthy bin Ladens are supposed to have entirely cut off Osama, the most wayward of their 50 children, two brothers and a sister were present in Kandahar at the January wedding of Mohamed to the daughter of Mohamed Atef, Osama bin Laden's military chief and second in command.
Taking out bin Laden junior will be hard. He may already have left Afghanistan. He has spent much of his life in Peshawar and knows it well. Last year a raid in the city missed capturing him by a few hours, though two other al-Qaeda members were caught. Pakistani police sources say they believe Mohamed was warned of their raid by ISI jihadi elements.
But even if bin Laden and his son are killed or captured several other key men will also have to be put out of action for any assault on al-Qaeda to be effective.
Evidence presented during the trial of the four men who bombed the American embassies in Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi revealed the key role of Atef, an Egyptian also known as Abu Hafs el Masri or Sheikh Taseer Abdullah.
Phone records show Atef was the "manager" of the East African operation and he has also been named by defectors as the head of al-Qaeda's "military committee" - charged with carrying out terrorist attacks across the globe. But Atef is not the only man powerful enough to run al-Qaeda if bin Laden falls.
Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, a trained surgeon and a founder of the Egyptian group al-Jihad, has been with Bin Laden since 1995.
"At first Bin Laden was just concerned with the US troops in Saudi Arabia. The global focus he has now is basically down to Zawahiri," one Western security source said. "He is a sophisticated thinker and understands the media and how it works."
Zawahiri is believed to be behind bin Laden's bribery of Pakistani journalists. In one instance a Pakistani journalist received $10,000 from al-Qaeda.
Zawahiri also has access to a network of volunteers, particularly in Egypt. Many of the men involved in the attacks in New York and Washington were Egyptian, which has led security services to believe Zawahiri played a role.
He has also been involved in recruitment for bin Laden and is a key fundraiser in North Africa. No one doubts that in Bin Laden's absence, he would be a powerful player.
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